Federal grant to help track pros­titutes ratified

Bexar County commissioners have ratified a grant application to the federal government that provides funds for a prostitution track and per-trial services program.

The county’s participation in the $312,500 program is $62,500, according to Commissioner Tommy Adkisson.

“What we want to do is something that will cost money, but over time, we believe will reduce the jail population,” said Adkisson.

Reducing jail population, he said, will save the county millions of dollars.

Adkisson said the current method of dealing with prostitutes is to incarcerate them using jail space that could be used for more dangerous criminals.

“We’ve had a blindly focused attention on just throwing them in jail over and over again,” he said.

Commissioners say they hope the program, which provides services such as counseling and job training, will break the cycle of sending prostitutes to jail only to have them return to the streets upon their release.

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